Comments by "N Marbletoe" (@nmarbletoe8210) on "President Trump's medications in detail" video.

@rmains "Cells grown as monolayers in a T-25 flask (growing surface 25 cm2) were inoculated when they were at 80% of confluency. First, aliquots (100 µL) of the concentrated air sampler collection media were filtered through a sterile 0.45 µm pore-size PVDV syringe-tip filter to remove bacterial and fungal cells and spores. Next, the spent LLC-MK2 and Vero E6 cell culture medium was removed and replaced with 1 mL of cell culture medium, and the cells inoculated with 50 μL of cell filtrate. When virus-induced cytopathic effects (CPE) were evident, the presence of SARS-CoV-2 was determined by rRT-PCR." . https://www.ijidonline.com/article/S1201-9712(20)30739-6/fulltext . I think it means they did a cell culture and grew the virus.
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McDonalds Farmer PCR can test for any sequence; it is programmable. They programmed in the RNA of the virus, and bob's your uncle. . I worked in a lab in Hawaii that did PCR testing for avian diseases. I am not a lab guy, I catch the birds and they test them, but I know this PCR stuff works and has worked for many years. . Iceland results show that the false positive is less than 0.6%. Unequivocal. (google scholar "iceland random covid"). . Now of course there could be faulty tests. But the test is generally extremely accurate to ID virus fragments.
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The PCR test's problem is that it is too good! . If people don't use it right, that is a shame, but the test itself is very accurate. . A positive result does not mean a person is sick. That might be confusing to some people. It's good to clear it up.
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@Emilg5 Lol a test for covid that's not covid specific. I'd need a citation to entertain that concept.
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@Emilg5 Exactly as I said! Thank you for for the source. . He says " It’s faintly possible that high loads of related, but different coronaviruses, which can cause some of the common colds we get, might also react in the PCR test, though it’s unclear to me if it does." . In other words -- no I will use his words -- "It's faintly possible." That's consistent with the Iceland study that found a nationwide false positive rate of less than 0.6%. . The test has one main problem: it is so sensitive it will pick up virus fragments after they are no longer reproducing in the body. . If people don't realize the test does NOT show "illness" or "infectiousness" they may mis-interpret the results. You're helping avoid that mistake. . It's a matter of knowing one's instruments. A speedometer won't show you how many miles you went...
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@Emilg5 I would add there's another valid point you brought up: the ratio of false positives to true positives. . This is a subtle thing, as I'm sure you have found trying to explain. Maybe a name for it would help; I'll call it "The X ratio." . If population prevalence is very low, the X ratio can be very high. If prevalence is zero, the X ratio could be infinite. . Clearly the X ratio is not the same as the false positive rate. False positives rates can't be infinite. . However, it is important to account for the X ratio. Perhaps the UK government has not accounted for the effect? I'm sure the US has not, because we're not doing random surveys, so we actually have no valid estimates to adjust. . At the personal level, the X effect means that if I got a positive test, I would want it confirmed, especially if the disease is rare in my state. .
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@Emilg5 I'm not missing it, I'm saying it's wrong, unsupported, and inconceivable. I wish you well in your efforts, but for those reasons, I'm out.
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It is a curious thought, and I wonder how it works. Are the doctors in the uniformed forces? Many are probably contractors or civilian employees... do they have to follow the chain of command? . Of course, everyone can and should direct their own care as far as they are able. This usually means asking good questions and following the advice, sometimes finding a second opinion or a new doctor. . Each person is a sovereign individual. We don't have to be the Komodo in Chef to direct our own care :9 .
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@boggo3848 I hear Vitamin D is being used in Sweden to prevent existentialism.
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